Remember Easter
We don’t have to tell you: this year Palm Sunday, Holy Week and Easter will be different. We have been transformed into a society that, depending on your role in life, is isolated, stressed, scared, and/or exhausted. All are wondering when it will end. It is somewhat ironic that our present circumstances parallel the emotional ups and downs experienced by the followers of Jesus during what we call Holy Week. In the weeks leading up to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem, the disciples were going along trusting their leader and helping to spread the Word. But, occasionally, Jesus would speak disturbing words – “In pouring this ointment on my body she has done it to prepare me for burial”; “one of you will betray me”; “we are going up to Jerusalem,,… he will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon;… they will scourge him and kill him…”. These were words they didn’t want to hear; they didn’t want to believe. Early this year, we started hearing about a virus that was coming. It would travel around the whole world. There would be many deaths. We were not prepared for anything like this. We couldn’t stop it. These were disturbing words to everyone. Like the disciples, we were in disbelief. We didn’t want to hear such words. Well, now we are going through all the dire predictions. Perhaps, we hope, we are past the peak. Long ago, the disciples endured all those horrible events that Jesus had talked about. One can only imagine the emotional turmoil they experienced. One can only imagine the elation upon finding out that Jesus also said He would arise from that horror – and He did! We hold out a strong hope that our trial will end with an almost equal elation. Like the disciples, we shall have wept, and now can laugh; we shall have mourned, but now we can dance; we have refrained from embracing, and now we embrace each other with joy. Looking forward to a blessed Easter with Jesus’ Resurrection…and a resurrection of our own normal life. Virginia